The Boys of Summer
by CE Winters
Summary: Sam has to leave Lima tomorrow for his new home, but he has to see Mercedes one last time... "I remember Mercedes' reaction when I told her...I hadn't wanted her to be mad at me when we left, so I called her and asked her to meet me in the park..."


_A/N: I think it's about time to break out the salt and holy water and call the Winchester brothers because Chelly has written a Glee fic that ISN'T Klaine and that means it MUST be the Apocalypse! :) But I just missed Sam so much (who ever said that Klainers can't love Sam!) and with this new news about him (I won't say what it is in case people don't know or don't want to be spoiled...though if you're from Tumblr, I think it's inevitable) I just HAD to write something with him in it! Since Samcedes is my second OTP after Klaine this just flowed from my pen!_

_It's my headcanon on what happened before Sam left. I haven't written anything Samcedes or Sam-centric (though Sam is a main, pivotal character in "Prince Charming"), I hope it's alright!_

_Enjoy! :D_

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><p>Has everyone felt that feeling of looming dread? I imagine that they have, but right now it feels as if it's singling me out – like it has a life of its own and is personally victimizing me. Why wouldn't I be surprised? I like to think that I'm a pretty nice guy overall. I didn't want to back out of the duet with Kurt, and I stuck up for him against that damned Karofsky kid. I tried to not freak out at Quinn when I thought she was cheating with Finn – even though it turned out that she was. I compliment girls in Na'vi because I think it's probably less confusing for them than Elivish, since Avatar is newer than The Lord of the Rings. As it turns out, less people know Na'vi than you would think. Anyway, you would imagine that with all that good karma piling up, I'd be a little overdue for some good luck, right?<p>

Wrong. I thought so too, it's a pretty easy mistake to make. It turns out that the universe did something even crueler than it had before: it gave me something perfect, and then took it away.

When I came to McKinley almost a year ago, I noticed one very prominent difference between it and my old school: girls. I tried the seemingly sweet type. That turned out miserably, since I had to take cold baths and showers for months on end and she still cheated on me. At least Quinn had the decency to actually break up with me, though. The same couldn't be said for Santana.

But I had been starting to think that none of that mattered, because I found Mercedes. It was the relationship that was never supposed to happen, but she was perfect. She didn't look like Quinn or Santana, but she was still beautiful – more beautiful than either of them. She was herself, and more than that, she let me be myself_._ No one had ever done that before. She didn't laugh at my bolo tie, and she danced the robot with me at prom. I even taught her some Na'vi, before…

Well, she was just the eye of the storm. I thought that things were going to be great. We'd be together when I started my senior year. We could have done some killer duets for the glee club. She was the Leia to my Han Solo, the Katara to my Aang, the Frank'n'Furter to my Rocky – literally in that last case.

Then my dad told me about the job. I was happy for him, really. I was sick of living in that damn hotel room, and my mom really needed some medicine to get better. But this meant we had to move…again, right when I had thought things were going uphill at school.

So right now, I'm in the car on the way to our new home. I bought this book thing before we left...no matter what anyone says, I'm not calling it a diary. It looks like a school notebook so I hope my mom doesn't go snooping around looking in it. Before I left, Ms. Pillsbury said something about how trying to focus on something and write it out would help my dyslexia. I'm really trying – I've only gotten sidetracked twice so far, not counting the fifteen minutes I stopped writing to stick my head out of the window because I got nauseous.

…Make that three times. Anyway, I remember Mercedes' reaction when I told her. She looked like she was trying to be happy for my dad's luck, but she wasn't pulling it off very well. I really hadn't wanted her to be mad at me when we left, so I called her the day before we left and asked her to meet me in the park. I brought my guitar and waited on a bench until she showed up.

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><p>A familiar figure walked toward the bench where Sam Evans sat, guitar in hand. He shot to his feet as he saw her and moved toward Mercedes with an outstretched hand, but she pushed it aside. "Let's not make this harder than it has to be," she said, dark eyes looking anywhere but at Sam's light ones.<p>

Sam moved his rejected hand to the neck of his guitar, where he gripped it nervously. "Right, about that," he said, gesturing for her to sit on the bench he'd just stood up from. "Summer's almost over. I leave in a day, and you'll go back to school in another month." He smiled at her and adjusted his guitar, giving it a few experimental strums. "I was listening to the radio the other day, and this song came on. It was so weird…it could have been any song, but it was this one."

Mercedes finally looked up at him as Sam started to play the melody. "Maybe when you hear it from now on," he said, "even if it's ten years from now and you have a husband and kids, you'll think of me just for those few minutes. Remember this summer…it was probably the best one I've had, well, ever." He smiled down at her. "I love you, Mercedes."

Her mouth opened in an 'o' of surprise, but before she could say anything, Sam started singing:

_Nobody on the road_

_Nobody on the beach_

_I feel it in the air_

_The summer's out of reach_

_Empty lake, empty streets_

_The sun goes down alone_

_I'm driving by your house_

_Though I know you're not home_

Sam walked to Mercedes' side. Her eyes followed him as he sat down beside her, a slow smile creeping onto her lips.

_But I can see you_

_Your brown skin shining in the sun_

_You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby_

_And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong_

_After the boys of summer have gone_

He dipped in toward her swiftly and placed a chaste kiss at the corner of her mouth. When he pulled back, Sam saw that a flush colored Mercedes' cheeks, and her small smile had grown into a fully-fledged, beaming grin.

_I never will forget those nights_

_I wonder if it was a dream_

_Remember how you made me crazy_

_Remember how I made you scream_

_Now I don't understand what happened to our love_

_But babe, I'm gonna get you back_

_I'm gonna show you what I'm made of_

Sam quickly slipped off the strap of his guitar and propped the instrument on the bench. Before she could protest, he grabbed Mercedes' hand and pulled her to her feet, spinning her toward him in a light-footed dance.

_I can see you_

_Your brown skin shining in the sun_

_I see you walking real slow and you're smiling at everyone_

_I can tell you my love for you will still be strong_

_After the boys of summer have gone_

Mercedes had started laughing infectiously, and Sam caught her humor. In the back of his mind though, he remembered why he was singing to her in the first place. This time tomorrow, he would be on the road to his new home and Mercedes would be alone in Lima.

_Out on the road today, I saw a black flag sticker on a Cadillac_

_A little voice inside my head said, "Don't look back, you can never look back."_

_I thought I knew what love was_

_What did I know? _

_Those days are gone forever_

_I should just let them go but-_

But for just those few moments, it was too easy to pretend that they had their entire lives to be together. It was too easy to pretend that when everything had started to go perfectly, it would actually last.

_I can see you-_

_Your brown skin shining in the sun_

_You got that top pulled down and that radio on, baby_

_And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong_

_After the boys of summer have gone_

_I can see you-_

_Your brown skin shining in the sun_

_You got that hair slicked back and those wayfarers on, baby_

_I can tell you my love for you will still be strong_

_After the boys of summer have gone_

As he finished singing, Sam slowed their dance and Mercedes gently rested her head against his chest. He felt her arms wind around his waist and he rested his cheek against the top of her head. "What am I going to do when you're gone?" she asked quietly.

Sam didn't respond immediately. He wanted to keep pretending like they were in no hurry but reality was quickly setting back in. He smiled ruefully, though she couldn't see it. "Wait until I get back?" he suggested.

Mercedes drew back and looked at him inquisitively. "What are you talking about? Until you get back?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders, rueful smile still playing on his lips. "I mean, I'm not going to be gone forever, right? I graduate this year and then I can go wherever I want for college if I get a football scholarship." He smiled hopefully at her and lifted a hand to brush a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I know we agreed not to try the long-distance relationship and I'm not asking for that. I won't ask you to wait for me, but…"

Mercedes confused look shifted to an excited one. She grappled with words for several moments, her mouth opening and closing without producing words, until Sam chuckled. "Speechless," he whispered. "That's good?" His hand, which hadn't strayed far from Mercedes' face, traced along the bottom edge of her jaw and tipped her chin up. Their lips met softly and Sam didn't try to push his luck with the kiss. He didn't want anything from Mercedes but to memorize every inch of her before the time came when he'd be taken away from her. He wanted to memorize the feeling of her gentle lips against his. He wanted to remember the subtle smell of fruity shampoo that lingered in her hair. He wanted to be able to recall the tingle that went through his spine when he felt her hands trace up the muscles of his back and bunch in the back of his shirt, pulling their bodies closer together.

Sam let out a shaky sigh when they pulled away, and remained leaning down so their foreheads could press together. A moment later he opened his eyes. Mercedes has her eyes pressed shut and a small tear was just beginning to trace its way down her cheek.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Sam protested. His thumb brushed over her cheek to wipe away the tear. "What's this?"

"Nothing," she said too quickly. Mercedes cleared her throat and moved her hands to Sam's forearms to push him away. "Like you said…it won't be too long before you find your way back."

Sam bit his lip, not sure what else there was to say. "What now?"

Mercedes smiled sadly and momentarily tightened her grip on Sam's arms. "Now I say that I love you too," she said simply. Before Sam could express his shock, she stood on her tiptoes to press their lips together one more time. Their second kiss was extremely different than the earlier one. It was longing and desperate, with small sighs of impatience and hands fruitlessly gripping loose clothing. In the back of his mind, Sam knew what was happening. This was it: their last kiss. He knew that after this, she would walk away. He tried to put every ounce of feeling that words couldn't do justice to into that kiss so that she would know everything he couldn't say.

Too soon it was over, and he broke away gasping. Mercedes leaned away from him and every inch she retreated seemed to make his heart sink just a little bit farther. "And then," she continued, slightly out of breath, "we say goodbye." Her hand slid down his arm to grasp his. She held onto him for only a second more before letting go and turning to walk away. Sam watched every second of her retreat but she never looked back. A part of him knew it was better that way but another part of him just wished that she could show one moment of weakness…that she would look back for a split second to blow him a kiss, or even run back into his arms for another few blissful moments. But Mercedes, Sam knew, was much smarter than that. It would just be postponing the inevitable. In the end, she would still have to walk away.

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><p>So she left me there, standing alone in the park hopeless and heartbroken. Well, not totally hopeless…like I told her, there's always next year. But that's a year away from now. Anything could happen between now and then – maybe she won't want me the next time we meet. One way or another though, I plan on finding that out.<p>

Until then, I have a whole new school to get accustomed to. Maybe they'll even have a glee club; I wouldn't mind joining one again, though it would feel weird to sing without the New Directions. It would be weird to sing without Mercedes_._

Well, now we're almost here. If you're thinking that it was an awfully short trip (I don't know why you'd be thinking at all unless this is like Harry Potter…if you start talking back and giving me advice, I'm going to freak out) don't be deceived. I might have gotten distracted a few times, and then _Eenie Meenie_ came on the radio so my little sister had to put on the _My World 2.0_ CD and I couldn't just let it play without stopping to sing along. That kid has infectious songs, okay? That's everything, the entire going away story. Painful? Yes. Forgettable? Not in a lifetime. Until the next time I see her, I think I can safely say that this summer will be sticking fast in my memory.

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><p><em>AN: There we go! The song "The Boys of Summer" was originally done by Don Henley I do believe, though the famous cover by The Ataris is what motivated me to write this and is the version Sam sings :)_

_I'm marginally thinking of somehow continuing this when we find out what happens in Episode 8...not sure how but I thought I'd let people know that it's on the table! It wouldn't be for a while though, a couple months, so we'll just see!_

__I hope it was okay! Let me all know what you thought! :3__


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